The changing colours of Zatanna's fingernails is from the movie, Aquamarine. I used the Lantern Corps' colour spectrum for it.

Zee of the Sea

Chapter 1:

America, Gotham City

Dick Grayson walked along the dingy Gotham beach late at night. He had his hands in his pockets as he thought about his future. He had just gotten out of a relationship with Barbara Gordon... one of many. It's not like Dick wanted to date a lot of women, he just hadn't found that one woman he'd spend the rest of his life with. He looked up from the ground and saw... was that a woman?

She was collapsed on the beach with her lower half in the water. Dick ran over to her and turned her onto her back. He gasped. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her skin was Sun kissed and her raven-black hair was stuck to her from the water. She opened her eyes... light blue eyes like a tropical ocean... and screamed. She stumbled away from him with her legs in the skirt of her long red dress.

"Ohw era uoy?!" she exclaimed.

Dick felt possessed and couldn't help but speak.

"My name is Richard John Grayson but every calls me Dick, I'm 19-years-old, I hope to be a cop one day," he said, quickly "and I can't help but think there isn't a woman for me out there,"

He put his hand over his mouth and looked at her.

"Why did I tell you that?" Dick asked.

The woman looked at him in fear.

"Era uoy a retnuh?"

"No, why did I just say that?" Dick wondered.

The woman got closer to him. She grabbed his jacket colour and kissed him! Dick would've pushed her away but something about it... about her... was right. She pulled away and looked down, her hair falling around her.

"M-My n-na-name is... Z-Zee o-o-f th-e S-ea," she stammered.

She tried to breathe but began suffocating. Zee fell onto her back and held her throat. In her desperation, she couldn't keep her... lower half... tucked in her skirt and her tail kicked out.

"Oh. My. Aster," Dick said "A... mermaid?"

When the initial shock passed, he remembered she couldn't breathe. On the little he knew about mermaid mythology, he pushed her, face first, into the waves. The tide pulled her out and she disappeared. Dick stood on the beach and looked out over the water. There was a reflection of the full moon on the surface and Zee of the Sea jumped out of the river through it. She practically flew through the air and landed sitting on a rock. She shifted one of her red sleeves back over her shoulder as she looked at him.

"Th-ank y-you, Rich-ard Gray-son," she stammered "You s-saved m-y li-life,"

"Why are you here?" Dick asked, stepping forward "I thought mermaids were myths,"

"I'm being chased by supernatural hunters, they want to sell me for profit," Zee explained "I came here to hide from them. I swam all the way from Rome,"

"Sounds like you need to rest," he said "Hey, can you breathe on land?"

"As long as I'm wet in some way," said the mermaid "So?"

"You can crash with me if you want," said Dick "My adoptive father set me up in a penthouse while I'm in college,"

"Era uoy yhtrowtsurt?" Zee said.

"Yes, why did I say that?" Dick answered.

"Mermaids naturally speak Backwards but whatever we say happens so we use telepathy to talk to each other," she said "When I kissed you, I took on your language abilities. I can now not only speak Forwards but I can also speak every language you can... you speak a lot of languages,"

"Yeah, I'm bilingual," he responded, running a hand through his hair "C'mon, I'll carry you to my car," and he picked her up bridal style.

Zee blushed when he put his arms around her... his strong muscular arms... how could she be attracted to a mere human?

Dick put Zee down in his indoor hot tub and she took a deep breath since she had been drying out on the way there. She looked around. There was a spiral metal staircase up to a balcony and there was a drawn curtain to hide whatever was there.

"Nice place," Zee said "I could definitely crash here for a few days,"

"Good, you want something to drink?" Dick offered.

"Salt water would be nice, icy cold," said Zee, folding her arms behind her head and sinking into the water.

Dick chuckled to himself and walked over to the kitchen area. He got some ice water and mixed in some sea salt from a pack he had. He handed her her drink and she sighed in relief from it.

"What year is it?" she asked, closing her eyes.

"Uh? 2019? Why?" Dick asked.

Zee looked at him with a sad expression. She sat up and turned to be on her front and leaned against the side.

"It's just..." she seemed sad "Mermaids... we take a decade to age a year... I'm 190-years-old..."

"Wow, you look pretty good for 190," said Dick, pulling up a stool to sit with her.

"Well... my father... Giovanni Zatara... was human," Zee explained "He must have died by now,"

"I'm sorry," said Dick "So, what, other than the obvious, about you is human?"

"None... the only way I could survive was by becoming full-mermaid," she said "This necklace suppresses my human half," and she pulled her seahorse necklace out with her thumb.

"Asterous," he said "Oh, that's my made-up word meaning the opposite of disastrous. Sorry, I've been messing with English since I was 13,"

"I don't mind," said Zee "Be as chalant as you like, that's the opposite of-"

"Nonchalant," said Dick "I came up with it a few years ago too,"

They both blushed as they looked into each other's eyes.

"I, uh, I need to go to bed if I'm going to finish my criminal psychology paper tomorrow," he said, standing up "You good to sleep in the hot tub?" Zee nodded "A'right, goodnight,"

Dick used the dimmer switch by the spiral staircase and walked up to the balcony. The balcony was actually his bedroom. Zee watched him walk up the stairs before sinking down under the water and curling up. The chlorine wasn't as nice as salt water but it kept her alive. Her hair floated around her as she fell asleep to the sound of the filter.

Zee looked through the seaweed at the clown fish. She blended in well because she was wearing a tank-top made from woven seaweed. She steadily swam out to the fish, careful not to spook it.

"Ih! M'i eeZ fo eht aeS!" she exclaimed in her head but the clown fish swam away "Emoc kcab!"

Sindella of the Waves came swimming over and Zee marvelled at her mother's beautiful long golden hair.

"annataZ, ym dlihc,"Sindella thought to her "S'ti yako, uoy tsuj t'nevah denrael ot etacinummoc htiw meht tey,"

Zee huffed like the 5-decade-old she was, crossing her chubby arms.

Zee opened her eyes the next morning. She sat up in the water and looked around the penthouse. She looked out at the outside pool and saw Dick doing laps. Zee bit her lip as she unknowingly checked Dick out. She watched him get out of the pool and noticed how ripped he was. She dreamily leaned against the side of the hot tub and gripped it. Her previously yellow nails for fear turned to violet. Zee looked at them and gasped. How could she...? Was it possible? She had only just met... how?

Dick came walking in with a towel around his shoulders. Zee bit her bottom lip and held her hands to her chest to hide her nails.

"So, what do mermaids eat?" he asked, going over to the stairs "I'll get dressed and fix us some breakfast,"

When he was gone, Zee looked down at her nails and remembered when her mother explained what emotion triggered what colour.

Green was for willpower, yellow for fear, red for anger, indigo for compassion, orange for greed, blue for hope and violet... violet was for love.

Was it possible she had fallen in love with Dick after knowing him for less than 12 hours?